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Dear Reader, my name is Joshua Grace. What I am about to tell you is a story that I have kept hidden for ten long years. It is time that I get this off of my chest. So I ask of you, please listen to an old man's tale.

I was a young fox when this happened. My father had just passed away, and my family was in need of money. I had traveled to a small fishing town to work there, I heard fisherman got some good pay. I had just reached adulthood, allowing me to work. Compared to the other fisherman around, it was clear that I was new to the job. I walked to one of the pubs, maybe I could find a captain here in need of a crewman, I thought. As I entered the pub, I was overcome with the potent smell of cigars and ale. I took a seat at the back of the bar, waiting to see if anyone need a crewman, and it either a blessing or a curse that decided to show itself to me at that moment.

An old dog walked into the pub. He wore an old fisherman's outfit, heavy black coat, dirty shirt, black hat, and heavy leather boots. He looked at each man in the pub as if inspecting them like cattle. I could finally see his eyes resting upon me. I gulped, it was like he was looking into my soul. I felt a deathly cold chill run down my spine. When he turned to face me, he slowly began to walk towards me. With each loud step he took, I felt my heart beat louder and louder. He stopped at my table, placing his hand on the table. "You looking for work, pup?" His voice was grizzled and smelt of cheap ale.

I simply nodded my head before giving him an answer. "Yes sir, I'm new in town, and well, my family needs money."

The man raised his eyebrows. A large grin came across his face. I could see that he was missing a few teeth in his mouth. "What's your name, boy?"

"Joshua Grace, Sir." It was even hard to get my name out I was so afraid of this man.

"Well, Mister Grace, I'll give you an offer. Work for me for say....a month, and I'll give you enough money to live off of for the rest of your life, deal?"

How could I refuse an offer like that? Something in the back of my mind just told me not to go, but part of me wanted to. "How do I know you'll keep your end of the bargain?"

The old dog laughed then reached into his pocket. Pulling out an old cloth sack, he dropped it in front of me. "Look inside if you don't believe me."

I did as he said and looked into the sack. My eyes went wide with surprise. Within the sack were gold coins. Taking one out, I inspected it. A few hundred of these and my family could live well for the rest of our lives. I turned to the man, finally deciding to ask him what I should do.

"Well boy, does harpooner sound good? You look like you have strong arms, farm boy right?"

How did he know? Before coming here, I lived on a farm and worked in the field a lot. My father taught me how to do all kinds of things to keep the crops coming. I gave the man another nod. He gave me a heavy slap on the back, causing me to lurch forward a bit. "Good, Mister Grace, let me take your bags to my ship, we leave tonight."

"Tonight? Don't you need some more crewman?"

"No, I already got several waiting for us. Now please, come along." He was already halfway out of the pub before I was able to even ask my question. I will say this, this was both the best and worst day of my life, as you will see why soon enough.

He took me to a large fishing ship. There were several other young men aboard, but what caught me is that none of the looked experienced. I was expecting muscular men who had been doing these things for years, these men looked like me, new to the job. But there was one that caught my eye. He was a coyote with piercing blue eyes, and muscles that made him stand out from the others. I felt something stir within me once I laid eyes upon him, but those thoughts only lasted for a brief moment.

The captain rang a loud bell to silence everyone. He dropped my bags onto the ground, his eyes scanning the lot of us. "As some of you may know, I am Captain Isaiah. We will be fishing for some peculiar game these coming months. I needed fresh young hands to do what I need, teach you lot what you need to know of the sea. We ship off tonight, better get to know your new family."

The crew began to talk among one another. I had my eyes fixated upon that coyote I had seen earlier. Pushing my way through the crowd, I finally found him. Back then I didn't know what drew me towards him, I just felt like I wanted to be with him. "H...hello, sir." My throat felt dry and my heart felt as if it would burst from my chest any minute.

The coyote turned to look at me. He gave me a warm smile and extended out his hand. "Hey there, name's Crawford, pleasure to meet you, um?"

"Joshua, Joshua Grace." I took his hand, feeling how strong his grip was compared to mine.

"Well Joshua, glad to have someone to talk with. Been harpooning before?"

"No, this is my first time. Have you?"

Crawford laughed then rubbed the back of his head. "I've been a little busy for the past two years, so I couldn't really do much work till now."

As I and Crawford talked, I kept finding myself looking into his eyes, every time I tried to look away, I found myself drifting back to them. Of all the things I remember from this voyage, he is one of the sweetest parts.

That night I found it hard to sleep with my fellow crewman. Deciding to take a late night walk, I silently got out of bed and walked to the upper deck. We were already out at sea by this point, and I could see the moon reflecting in the dark ocean. But from behind, I heard the sound of a crashing bottle coming from the captain's cabin.

Rushing over to the cabin, I pushed the door open. I could see the captain on the floor, a half drunk bottle of liquor on the floor next to him. I helped Captain Isaiah back up into his chair. As he looked at me, something seemed to come over him. I half expected him to scold me for being out during this hour, but what happened surprised me to no end.

With an odd quickness, I found him wrapping his arms around me. Tears rolled down his eyes as he buried his face into my chest. The old dog's ears lowered, a small whimper came from him. "Marcus, I thought you were dead. Don't worry boy, father's here now. I'll set things right."

Marcus? I had never heard of this name before, and I could only assume that this must have something to do with the alcohol in his blood. I gently pushed him back into his chair, happy to see that he was asleep. But he mumbled something about red eyes and sharp teeth. Deciding to leave the captain to his own drunken ramblings, I left the cabin.

Back in the lower deck, I found myself still wide awake. I couldn't get Captain Isaiah's words out of my mind. As I finally drifted off to sleep, it wasn't an easy one. I had nightmares of the ship and us being caught in a storm. Something moved out in the storm, something dark. I could not see it clearly, but it was there. Compared to what was to come, this dream nightmare was a sweet dream.

Weeks went on with us doing mainly nothing. I and Crawford started to get closer. He taught me a few things, mainly how to defend myself in a fight. I taught him a few things about how to keep a garden. But as I found myself getting closer to him, I found myself becoming almost addicted to his presence. I never wanted to leave his side. But something puzzled me still. He said he was busy for the last two years, busy with what?

"Crawford, what exactly were you busy with?" I asked him, hoping I didn't do anything to make the man upset.

He looked out to the ocean, those eyes of his looking off into the distance as his mind pondered whether to tell me or not. Finally, he lowered his head. "I nearly killed a man." There was a sadness in his voice, something that I had never heard from him before.

"What happened?" My already deep curiosity only grew with what he said.

He turned to face me, his eyes hard and serious. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else, okay?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, it'll stay between you and me."

"Okay, so two years ago I was....with my male lover. Yeah, it's not exactly well looked upon, but you can't pick love. Some guy, a drunk if I remember right, found us making out behind a bar. He started some trouble and well I punched him....several times. The police arrived, I was arrested, and here we are now."

"What happened to your lover?"

He closed his eyes, he seemed to be holding back tears as he told me the next part. "When I came out from prison I searched high and low for him. After finally tracking him down I found that he had someone else, another man. They looked happy, they lived off in the country together. So instead of interrupting their relationship, I simply wandered off. I went from town to town till where we are now."

He choked up at times when he told me what had happened to him. I couldn't imagine what that would have been like for someone. I saw that the other crewman were busy, and the captain was in his cabin, so I gave him a tight hug, wanting to at least give him a shoulder to cry on.

My hug seemingly caught him off guard, and he slowly hugged me back. I could feel his face pressing up against my shoulder, and I could hear him whimpering a bit as he cried. It seems he had bottled all of this up and was just now letting it go. I had to tell him how I felt, I did not want him to get away.

"Crawford, I need to tell you something." My voice came out as hardly more than a whisper, but I needed to tell him. My heart pounded in my chest like a hammer. Over and over I could feel it, my hands began to tremble, my mind raced with the various reactions he could have.

"What is it?" He said with a concerned voice. He wiped his tears away and looked into my eyes and I into his. By whatever grace was up high above, he had surely blessed this man with perfection.

"We have gotten to know one another pretty well for the last few weeks. I need to ask you, Crawford will you take me as a lover?" As soon as the last word left my mouth, I felt my tongue go dry. My heart beat faster and faster as I looked at him with hopeful eyes that he could say yes, but a doubtful mind that thought he would say no.

My proposal seemed to surprise him. He looked at me with confusion and several other emotions before giving me his answer. "Yes, I will take you." His voice was confident and filled with true love.

Without thinking I tightly embraced him, burying my face into his chest. I could feel his hands resting against the back of my head. It was on that day that I made the best decision in my life. And to this day, as I look out the window and see him working, I regret nothing from that day.

We kept our relationship a secret, often doing things late at night. From kissing to making love, we made sure to do it in a private place in the ship so that no one could hear us. But for the rest of the journey, Crawford and I were inseparable. But, I am nearing the end of my tale now, and it was on a stormy night that this happened.

It was late at night and everyone was working hard as we had drifted into a storm. Crawford was helping the men stay on board the ship and keeping the barrels from falling off. I was holding on for dear life as I looked out into the storm. I could hear someone screaming off in the distance like he was challenging the storm. I turned my head and saw Captain Isaiah, his arms raised up to the sky like a madman.

Lightning crackled as he looked at the sky, still screaming. The wind became harsher as he drifted further into the storm. I was able to slowly make my way over to him. "Captain, we need to leave, now!" I yelled over the loud wind.

The captain turned and looked at me. His eyes were large and had a madness to them that I had not seen before. "Mister Grace, we leave when I catch my prey! Prepare the harpoons! It comes! It comes! The storm is the first sign!"

Too scared to argue with the captain I raced down to the lower decks. Grabbing the boxes of harpoons, I dragged them up to the top deck. The wind seemed to be oddly slowing down, we were entering the eye of the storm. It was night, and it was calm now. I opened the box of harpoons and started handing them out to the men as the captain ordered people around.

"Men, tonight we deal a blow to a creature that has been in these seas for years. Tonight, we will free the souls of the damned that this creature has swallowed!" The captain was becoming increasingly more insane, and the crew started whispering among themselves. But what I saw next still sends a cold chill down my spine.

As I write these next words I find my hand trembles as I hold my pin. My body refuses to write what the creature looked like, but I must continue. As of now my dear reader, I have drunk a few shots of liquor to help ease the nerves and calm the mind. I am not drunk nor am I mad. The remaining crewman and I have agreed to not speak of that night, but I will, only so people know what happened.

From the depths of the ocean, a large serpentine creature rose. Its skin was as black as night, and its body towered over the ship. I looked up at the creature in the night sky and could only describe it as an eel or snake-like creature. Its eyes, they burned with a bright fiery red that resembled the pits of Hell. Its sharp, sword-like, teeth shined like the moon that hovered just above its head. I and the other crewman looked up at the creature, our hearts stopped beating for a brief moment as we stared at the monster.

The silence was soon broken by the sound of maddening laughter. Captain Isaiah marched towards the creature, a harpoon in one hand and a cutlass in the other. "For twenty years I searched for you! For twenty years I had nightmares of that night. Twenty years ago you took everything from me! You took my wife! My son! You took everything from me! I am Captain Isaiah, and it is with glee that I claim this night as the night you die, monster!"

The captain pulled his arm back and launched his harpoon at the monster with deadly accuracy. The weapon pierced the eye of the creature, causing it to let out a loud screech of pain. The captain lets out another loud bellowing laugh as he watched some blood come from the wound he had inflicted upon the creature. "Yes! Yes! Feel the pain from that night, monster! Feel the anger I have held for twenty years!" He was almost giddy like a child receiving a new toy now.

Knowing that it was either fight or die now, I grabbed a harpoon and threw it at the creature. We could tell it was flesh and blood and not some angry sea god come to punish us. As my harpoon pierced the thick skull of the creature, I saw the captain turn to look at me and grin. "Good job, Mister Grace. Everyone! Throw your harpoons at it! Let this creature taste steel!"

As ordered, the rest of the men began throwing harpoons at the creature. The night air was filled with the shining metal tips of the harpoons as we speared the creature's body. It let loose another series of loud screeches before diving down into the ocean. We could see that its blood was as black as the night sky. Captain Isaiah grabbed another spear and dipped it into the water below. "And it shall be with this spear that I kill the creature with its own poisoned blood." He said with a wide grin.

We waited for the creature to show again, everyone was one edge. We each held a harpoon in our hands, ready to finish the creature off, what we didn't expect was that this creature was smarter than we gave it credit for.

From the side of the boat, the large creature came up again. Wrapping its large body around the ship, it slowly began to squeeze the ship. We could hear the wood bending and grinding as the creature tightened its grip. We threw our spears at it, this time it seemed to do little more than anger the beast. I saw men grabbing daggers, axes, anything they could use and beat the creature's body, that did nothing. It wasn't until I was pulled away by the captain that I knew we were going to be saved.

"Mister Grace, steer the ship away from here. This is my fight now, I won't lose anyone else. I can see now, that bringing more young men here was a mistake. You're captain now, go boy!" He pushed me away and walked over to one of the smaller ships we had on the side. Using his cutlass, he cut the rope and vanished off the side of the ship.

With a quickness that one would think a creature of this size shouldn't have, it moved from out ship and began chasing the smaller boat Captain Isaiah was in. I could see him now, off in the distance. He had a lantern tied to the front of his boat, and it seemed that he was leaving a trail of his own blood behind so that the creature would follow it. It had already tasted it from his son and wife, and now it was going after him.

What became of the captain is unclear, as I got us out of there and back to land as fast as possible. As we made land, I and the other crewman swore never to never talk about this night again. I can say I have broken that promise now, but the truth needed to be known.

It has been three days since I last wrote in this journal but something has happened, a corpse washed up on shore. It was a large serpentine corpse. Once the skin was cut open, what was inside surprised everyone. A large heart fell out of the body, and within in that heart was an old harpoon. I wonder if that was the fate of Captain Isaiah. Did he die fighting that creature? Or did he beat it and died on the ship? But another thought has entered my mind, are there more?

As I look out at the seat at night, I swear I can feel something looking back at me. Something ancient, evil, something that no one should ever face like we did. I suppose in the next ten years, if I am still around that is, I may hear of something. And if I do, I know what this creature can do. I pray for any poor soul that has to see that thing.